It's Time To Prune Your Roses

Super Bowl Sunday is a great day to prune your roses in Southern California. It’s easy to remember and if you’re not a football fan give you something to do. If you are a fan, there is always Saturday or the morning of the game. Pruning too early in the year (like when the mow, blow “gardeners” prune) is not good for your plants. They will be sending up new growth when it’s too cool out and there is more chance of damage and disease. Tell your mow blow guy to stick to the mowing and take control of pruning your roses! The information below is a guide to pruning hybrid tea and grandiflora roses. Shrub roses (including icebergs) don’t really need the same drastic treatment and climbers and miniatures need to be handled differently.




The first step is to remove dead or damaged canes. Select the old and diseased branches and cut them away.
Prune away all cross branches – any cane that is growing across the plant should be removed – you want to keep canes that grow away from the base not into it.
After that is completed it is time to prune away the sucker growth. Any canes that arise from below the bud union ( which is the swollen area on the lower trunk) should be cut back as closely as possible to the main stem.
The healthiest canes should be pruned next. These are the ones that are bright green and fairly thick (depending on the age of your rose. All of the other canes should then be removed. Select canes that are spaced evenly around the plant. You want to leave plenty of room in the center for circulation of air. On young plants select 3 or 5 canes for your base and remove the rest, older plants you can leave more canes. If you find old canes that are thick and unproductive, remove them completely. They are just an eyesore and will not produce blooms. Your rose will now look like a vase or if you hold your hand out in front of you and cup it upward… that is the look you are going for.



Now that you have your good canes selected cut them back to between 12 and 24 inches. Yes, that sounds drastic… it works! You want to trim each can at an outward facing bud – so that the cane will produce growth growing out and not in to the rose plant itself. Remove any remaining leaves on your rose. This will help your rose go dormant, which will reduce pests next year. In Southern California this can be a problem… since we have such a great long growing season.



Next you want to throw away all your debris, clear away all the leaves and stems and dispose of them properly. The cleaner you keep the area under the roses the more likely you are to prevent diseases on your roses next year. To further protect your plants, apply a dormant spray next.
Dormant spray is a combination of copper and horticultural oil – take a trip to a nursery (not a big box store) and get a recommendation. Don’t wait to do this, if you do and spray after tender new growth has begun it could be damaged.
You can fertilize with a high nitrogen organic fertilizer when you see some new growth in a couple of weeks. Yes, it’s a tad early to fertilize but in Southern California the soil stays relatively warm.




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How to Prepare For Frost

This photo by: Vanessa Clair


It is getting closer to the time of year in the Santa Clarita Valley (and much of Southern California) that may bring frost. It is time to become acquainted with how to handle your garden.

There are warning signs for frost such as still air (tree branches aren’t moving) no cloud cover, low humidity, and temperatures 45 degrees or less at 10 PM. Check before bedtime and get any at-risk container plants under the eaves, a patio roof or into the garage. This works for most plants however not your potted tropicals.



If you have tropical plants, remember that "cold" starts at 55 degrees. You can create your own problems if you suddenly bring tropicals indoors. Waiting to the last possible day is not the best solution. In fact… it’s the worst. An important trick is gradually adjust your plants to indoor conditions. *** See notes below



Make sure the soil around plants is moist when frost is expected. Soil that is moist holds and releases more heat than dry soil that creates a humid environment around the plant when the frost sucks moisture from the leaves. Never hose down plants in the morning after a frost plants should thaw naturally and gradually, or the plant cells in the leaf tissue will rupture.



You can also help protect plants by adding a two-inch layer of mulch. The mulch will help the soil retain moisture (less likely to freeze) and will insulate the roots from the cold.



Tender plants can be covered with frost cloth. The material should be secured to frames or stakes so that it does not touch the plant, otherwise it will just transfer the cold. It is important to remove the coverings during the daytime so that the plants can absorb sunlight.



Be sure not to prune frost sensitive plants until after all danger of frost has passed. Let the frost do the pruning for you. If your plant is injured, leave the damaged, burnt looking leaves on the plant to protect the foliage underneath. If you prune prematurely you may stimulate new growth, which is tender and more likely to be damaged by later frosts. Do not start pruning your plant again until danger of frost has passed and new growth begins to appear.

*** Additional notes for acclimating Tropicals:

You should begin adjusting the light hours for your tropicals at least 3 weeks before you expect to move your plants indoors. Take the outdoor pots and put them in deep shade and keep them there at least one week. The shade signals the plant that it should adapt to lower light conditions. At the same time you should cut back on water. Water the plants just enough to sustain them, especially since keeping them in shade they will require less water anyway.

Do not fertilize the plants… for tropicals your last fertilization can be late summer, you can feed them again in very late winter or early spring. This will be just prior to putting them out again for the spring.

Now you can bring the plants indoors, make sure to keep the water to a minimum the temperatures warm, as much bright light as you can and remember… don’t fertilize. You have done your best, now keep your fingers crossed because even with all that work your plants are not in their ideal surroundings and can expect some yellow leaves and even some loss of leaves. You can also thank yourself for moving to Southern California where the weather will soon be warm enough to put your tropical friends back outside where they enjoy their surroundings.

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Turn off your Sprinklers Southern California!

If you haven’t done it already, it is definitely time to turn your sprinklers off! This has been predicted to be an El Nino year, so you may be leaving your sprinklers off for quite some time.

After the rain stops, don’t just turn the water back on immediately, you don’t need to water again until your beds are dry about 2” down, more if you have heavy clay soil. Landscapes that have water wise gardens will be able to leave the irrigation off for up to two weeks!




You can also invest in one of the smart irrigation controllers, many water companies offer rebates and you won’t have to worry about messing with your irrigation controller over and over again. A great investment!



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